This is why activists across the continent
work with Vegan Outreach: Results!

This is why donors contribute to Vegan Outreach:
Results!

Brian
Grupe reports: “Solid day of outreach at American
River College with members of Sacramento
Animal Rights. I just happened to overhear
Natalie (above) tell her friends that she
went vegetarian after receiving an Even
If You Like Meat booklet her first
year at ARC. Makes me wonder how many students
don’t tell us about being influenced by
a booklet.”

To leaflet
SUNY Albany, I took a tip from
Leslie and dressed to the hilt for the 12 freezy
degreezies. I had overboots on to shield my
feet from the pavement, ski pants, two scarves,
two sweaters, my winter coat, and one mitten.
I felt exuberant about getting a chance to leaflet,
so I was super upbeat, and people were grinning
at me and very polite! One person praised me
for braving the cold, and many looked impressed.
I was SO glad to have a chance to get one more
leafleting outing in before finals week because
I know these booklets pack a punch.—Laura Hart, 12/10/10

I was
able to leaflet while down in
Florida for a week. A receptive crowd and some
good conversations at the University of Miami,
where the VO member with the vegan food booth
put out some more booklets, in addition to the
1,535 I distributed. Next, I reached 1,600 at
the University of Central Florida. Finally,
at Broward College, several people asked why
I was leafleting on “the coldest day of
the year” (55 degrees), which was funny.—Nick Cooney, The Humane League
of Philadelphia, 12/9/10

Today
was both my first time leafleting
a college, and the first time Tennessee Tech
had been leafleted. Over half the students took
a booklet with a smile; many thanked me. I had
dozens of positive interactions! The highlight
of the morning was when one young lady saw the
cover and commented, “I like animals, but
I eat chickens.” I asked her if she didn’t
think all animals suffered the same. She didn’t
seem sure, so she asked me if I ate chickens.
I told her I did not. She asked if I wanted
her to stop eating chickens. I told her that
she would be doing a wonderful thing if she
even read the information within and decided
to cut back. She seemed to agree with that,
and it spurred her two friends to take booklets,
too. I chose to stay on focus and promote harm
reduction rather than purity, and it won people
over! This outreach does work! I will be leafleting
again for sure. —Josh James, 10/20/10

Incredibly
receptive crowds at Harper Payton
High School and Lakeview High School – nearly
every student took a booklet. Lots of students
reading the booklets and discussing them. Some
students said, “Thanks for doing this.”
One even asked if she could volunteer.—Jessica and Dylan, Mercy
For Animals, 12/10/10

Nikki
also reports: “After thoroughly reading
the Compassionate Choices, this
Cal State Long Beach student came back to
me to say he was now a vegetarian.”

Check
out these stories from Cal State San Bernadino and San
Bernadino Valley College:

A young lady came back to get another leaflet
for her friend and is NOW VEGETARIAN. Right
now!

See the above statement for details because
this happened TWICE!

I heard “Of course I’ll help animals”
upwards of a thousand-million times.

A student took the LONG WAY to the library
so I didn’t have to run to hand him his booklet.

A staffer with a load of papers walked
up and asked, “Can I have two more for
my coworkers?”

Met a young lady wanting to start a student
group but needed a third student…oh I
got her a third – it’s on!

—Nikki Benoit, 10/14/10

Callie,
Barb, and I had a very good day
of outreach at Central Oregon Community College
– very high take rate and good conversations.
As people walked by me to go back to their cars,
lots of them commented about how gross the leaflet
was and said they read it during their class.
At Cornish College, one kid pointed at the Even
If You Like Meat booklet and said, “That
is what made me go vegan!” He got one a
few years ago, went vegetarian, and just went
vegan last February. I gave him a Guide.
Nearly 100% acceptance
at Seattle Central Community College! I saw
tons of kids reading the booklets. Walked by
groups of kids discussing it. Had a conversation
with two girls. One of the girls said, “I’m
not eating for the rest of the day because of
this!” I talked to her about meatless options,
said taking it slow is better for some people
– cut out meat one day a week, a few meals a
week, etc. They were both very interested. I
really felt the outreach here went a long way!—Phil Letten, 10/14/10

Awesome
day of leafleting at Auraria with
Barbara (Bear)! We lit up the campus, reaching
over 1,750 students! Really great conversations,
and Barbara made the best banana bread in the
history of the universe!—Jeni Haines, 10/13/10

Some
good conversations with ag students
at South Dakota State University, with all of
them leaving on good terms. One guy even said,
“You’ve given me a lot to think about.
I appreciate you taking the time to talk.”
At the University of South Dakota, though, a
beef spokesperson refused to read the booklet,
and kept trying to find fault with me, personally,
because she couldn’t find fault with my reasoning.
Great take rate
at Concordia College, and it was great to have
Elizabeth, Kathleen, and Seth with me at Minnesota
State, Moorehead. One guy was happy to get a
Guide after he told me, “I got one of
those earlier. It made me so sad. I’m not eating
meat all day.” A girl came back and said,
“It’s so sad. So, so sad. Especially this
part about the chickens.” She said after
reading the Even If, she didn’t think
she’d be able to go into the cafeteria and eat
the chicken. She liked that our approach wasn’t
all or nothing and was glad to get a Guide.—Fred Tyler, 10/15/10

Jessie
Brockway spreads veggie warmth at Florida
Atlantic University.

At the
University of Tampa, I heard from
a bunch of vegetarians and vegans. One student
came back to say, “I’ve been thinking for
a long time about going vegetarian. Getting
this pamphlet today must be some kind of sign
to take that step!” He happily accepted
a Guide and thanked me for being there.
Another student said he is currently writing
a paper about industrialized farming, and he
seemed glad to get this information.
Leafleting the
pet walk, I met a woman who went veg the day
she got a booklet four years ago at the University
of South Florida. Her husband then also went
veg. I guess they both just needed a little
info to get them on the path!—Lana Smithson, 10/19/10

Great
leafleting at the Chicago House
of Blues. One woman said she’s going vegan,
and another said it was getting a booklet in
the past that led her to go vegetarian. Loads
of people wanted more information.—Peter, Mickey, and Kenny, 10/17/10

Over 3,200
Huskies received a booklet from
Aleta, Stephanie, Anouk, Julia, or me these
past two days at the University of Connecticut.
A whole slew of people wanted to get involved
with the campus group and/or Vegan Outreach!
Aleta and I were interviewed by three different
students, and a bunch told us the booklet had
changed or was going to change their diet. —Karen James, 10/14/10

Amanda
and I reached over 2,600 students
at the University of South Carolina today –
an incredibly productive day of outreach! Two
young women let us know that they planned on
going veg as a result of reading the Even
If today, and another woman told us she
planned on going vegan because of the booklet.—Jon Camp, 10/18/10

Great
leafleting at Harold Washington
College. Heard from tons of vegans
and vegetarians and other young people who said
that they “don’t eat animals.” Some
students stopped with questions about the leaflets.
One young man told me that he received the leaflet
before and “it messed up my day.”
I told him that I appreciated his honesty and
that it affected him so much. —Leslie Patterson, 10/19/10

Brian
(right) and I had a good day at
Washtenaw Community College, Concordia University,
and the University of Michigan, Dearborn. One
girl stopped dead in her tracks and read the
leaflet cover to cover! She got a Guide, of
course. Others expressed interest and a few
came back for more booklets.
At Kalamazoo College
(never before leafleted), Brian and I hit 40%
of the population. When I went looking for the
bathroom, I saw one guy reading the Even
If aloud to an entire room of students.
On the next floor, the teacher was discussing
factory farming, likely due to us leafleting.
I’ve also received
some electronic feedback lately from students
who had gone veg after meeting me at their school,
some of whom are now activists. For example:
“(After meeting you and Phil) I knew what
I had to do. Since then I’ve gotten the chance
to share what I know now with people who can
finally see vegetarianism in a new light.”—Vic Sjodin, 10/14/10

At Cal
State Sacramento, a rancher who
had taken a booklet found us later and said
the information was not only completely accurate,
but, in some cases, the treatment of animals
on factory farms was worse than described in
the booklet. We talked for about 15 minutes,
and I could really see his wheels turning. He
told me about particular animals he raised for
slaughter that he has fond memories of; he even
called them by names. He agreed that all animals
have unique personalities and an interest in
their own lives. He also agreed that there is
no true difference between a cow and a dog except
that we eat one and not the other. He described
times he witnessed slaughter when the animals
were still clearly alive, and he acknowledged
it was cruel. He wasn’t apologetic, but still
very open to what I had to say. He said he only
does it for the profit, and after a moment of
silence, said, “I guess that’s not the
best justification.” Wow!—Linda and Serena, 10/11/10